New horizons of legal abortion

Abstract

This article is about certain world changes in the legal normativity and the ethno-political discussion regarding the interruption of pregnancy. It shows the conflict against the Catholic Church hierarchy, and gives examples from cases of countries of Catholic tradition,such as Ireland, Spain and France. Moreover, it covers the progressive advance on the subject of acceptance of abortion with the medication RU 486 and the legal resolutions which give priority to the quality of life above any other consideration. It also describes the retrogression which has taken place in the United States under the conservative Republican administration. Likewise, a report is made of the recent reforms (2000-2004) in Mexico City. All of this is accompanied by a reflection on what is at stake in the decision to abort. If every technological innovation regarding procreation and each legal sentence or legislative reform cause agitation, it is because they touch a vital core: ideas regarding life, what is human, what is ethical and what is private. To define a position on abortion heightens religious and political conceptions, and forces us to review the concepts and beliefs we have, not only about procreation and its interruption but also, and above all, about freedom.